604 - 613

Chapter 604 - Concern?

The other captains finished recruiting their new members and realized the atmosphere in the atrium was tense. They saw the empty space in the middle and saw Li Lanfeng and Shen Rufei standing there. They got a shock and quickly asked the members of Lingtian about what was happening.

When they heard that Shen Rufei requested to battle Li Lanfeng to settle the feud between him and Lingtian, they felt that he was unscrupulous too. They didn't know why Li Lanfeng accepted the challenge.

Shen Rufei saw the space that was cleared out for them. He raised his leg and kicked a metal chair beside him. The chair broke. He reached out and grabbed a broken chair leg.

Li Lanfeng held onto his broken chair leg tightly. They stood three meters apart and stared at each other.

The atrium was dead silent. Li Lanfeng and Shen Rufei didn't move. They were looking for an opening in each other's defense. Once they found it, they would attack it furiously.

A few minutes passed by. Shen Rufei couldn't find any opening on Li Lanfeng. He thought that Li Lanfeng was just an easy opponent but it seemed like he might be wrong. He felt frustrated.

Li Lanfeng's eyes lit up. He rushed out and aimed the broken chair leg at Shen Rufei's head.

Shen Rufei narrowed his eyes. He raised his hand and blocked the attack.

"Bang!" A loud sound erupted as the two broken chair legs hit against each other. Sparks flew out from the impact.

The two people jumped back and slid for a few meters. They distanced themselves and started a staring competition again.

People with sharp eyes saw what had happened in that instant. When the two weapons collided, Shen Rufei raised his leg and tried to sneak an attack on Li Lanfeng. However, Li Lanfeng saw through his intention and blocked his sneak attack. The force produced from this action caused them to bounce back.

Shen Rufei's heart dropped after this attack. He thought that he could dominate over his opponent but they were on par. In the database, Li Lanfeng's physical skills were at the peak of Refinement while he was at Qi-Jin.

"You hide yourself well," Shen Rufei gritted his teeth and said.

Li Lanfeng replied indifferently, "I didn't hide it on purpose. I just forgot to update my information." This was the truth.

For these three years, Li Lanfeng persisted in practicing the movements that Ling Lan taught him. When other people were eating, he was practicing. When other people were sleeping, he was still practicing. Everytime he practiced, he felt his bones resisting the changes and felt that they could break at any moment. He had to experience this pain a few times every day. Sometimes, he thought he would die from the pain.

Thinking back, Li Lanfeng was amazed that he managed to survive. He shivered slightly when he remembered back the pain.

However, it was a good thing that he persisted. This foundational actions required persistence. People who practiced it would only feel pain in their first year. In the second year, the pain would gradually lessen but there was no real improvements on his body. Many people would give up and feel that it was a waste of effort and time. However, Li Lanfeng continued on. He trusted Ling Lan. He felt that if there were no results, it meant that he was not practicing hard enough.

Li Lanfeng started to push himself harder. He would only stop after he was exhausted. Sometimes, he was so exhausted until he had no more energy to climb onto his bed. He would sleep on the floor of his dormitory.

After repeating this for months, Li Lanfeng finally felt the benefits. He managed to breakthrough and advanced to Qi-Jin. He had been stuck at the peak of Refinement for a long time so his foundations were strong. Thus, after half a year, Li Lanfeng continued smoothly into the middle-stage of Qi-Jin.

Just like what Li Lanfeng said, he was too busy with his missions and practices so didn't have the time to go to the assessment department to update his information. Of course, he did have his own thoughts so he didn't tell Zhao Jun and Li Shiyu about his improvement. He wanted Ling Lan to be the first person to know about this good news.

He wanted to show off his Qi-Jin skills in front of Ling Lan and tell him that he didn't let him down.

However, Shen Rufei didn't believe what Li Lanfeng said. When he saw how the rest of the Lingtian members were shocked at Li Lanfeng's Qi-Jin level, he sneered. He had an idea. "This is weird. You are a good strategist but you can't even believe in your own teammates…"

Shen Rufei's words had a double meaning behind them. He was trying to tell the members of the Lingtian Battle Team that they trusted the wrong person.

But, his words were useless. The members of Lingtian were not affected by his words at all. They were stunned at Li Lanfeng's level of physical skills but they were not unhappy with him. Li Lanfeng had left for three years. If he didn't make any improvements in these three years, they would instead be worried for him.

The only people that could be affected would be Zhao Jun and Li Shiyu…

However, before they could react, Li Lanfeng smiled at them mysteriously and said, "If they really did care for me, they would know what my true level is."

Li Lanfeng's gaze made Zhao Jun uneasy. Was he saying that he didn't care much about him? That was why he didn't realize that Li Lanfeng was already at the Qi-Jin level.

He looked at Li Shiyu. Li Shiyu was calm. He seemed to have already known about Li Lanfeng's advancement to Qi-Jin.

Zhao Jun felt apologetic towards Li Lanfeng. He thought back about the past three years. He had been too busy with missions and practicing his mecha piloting and didn't spend much time with Li Lanfeng… sob, old friend, it is my fault. Please don't look at me with those eyes. I will feel even more guilty!

Li Shiyu noticed Li Lanfeng's gaze too. After a while, he saw Zhao Jun looking at him. He seemed to be asking if he knew about Li Lanfeng's true power. Li Shiyu recalled how close Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng were and felt that Zhao Jun would definitely know about Li Lanfeng's true capabilities. On the other hand, he was always in the hospital and the laboratory. He didn't spend much time with them…

Chapter 605 - I Didn't Embarrass You!

That was just an excuse! Li Shiyu stopped himself. The fact was, he neglected his teammate. If he had shown more concern towards Li Lanfeng, he would have noticed the change in his physical skills.

Li Shiyu felt guilty. He started reprimanding himself. He still didn't treat Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun as his real friends. If it was his eldest cousin brother, he would have noticed any changes with him right away.

Li Shiyu knew that he was in the wrong. However, he was afraid of hurting Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng's feelings so he forced himself to maintain calm. He must make them believed that they were important to him. He would start treating them like his family from now on.

Li Lanfeng used one sentence to solve the potential trust crisis between them. Ling Lan smiled. Li Lanfeng was indeed a sly and cunning person. He managed to turn the situation around in just a split second.

Shen Rufei realized his instigation was useless. He was furious. This change in emotion caused him to reveal an opening to Li Lanfeng.

Li Lanfeng rushed towards Shen Rufei without any hesitation. He swung the broken chair leg and it formed lingering shadows in the air. "Bang, bang, bang." The two weapons collided with each other as the two people started fighting again.

The fights between soldiers were bloody and serious. They would not hold back unlike cadets in the military academies. Unless they couldn't find any weapons, soldiers wouldn't fight empty-handed. This was why the fights between soldiers were known as armed melee challenges.

Shen Rufei and Li Lanfeng fought with all their might. "Boom!" Li Lanfeng swung his weapon forcefully at Shen Rufei. Shen Rufei tilted his body to the side and dodged the attack. The weapon hit the ground and a crack formed on the floor. The crack stopped right in front of the crowd.

Ling Lan's prediction was accurate. She was certain about the capabilities of these two people. The force of a Qi-Jin level attack could only travelled at most 30 meters. If the crowd stayed further than 30 meters away from them, they would not be implicated.

The logistics commander smiled bitterly. Both the people who were fighting were higher ranked than him. How was he supposed to stop them?

The logistics commander looked at the floor and then shifted his gaze back onto the two people that were fighting. He told himself that he was too engrossed in watching the fight so he didn't notice anyone destroying public properties.

Shen Rufei was furious after dodging the attack. He wanted to kick Li Lanfeng.

Li Lanfeng moved and evaded the kick. His movements were weird and unpredictable. Qi Long, Luo Lang, Han Jijyun and Lin Zhong-qing saw his movements and stopped worrying about him.

They had been with Ling Lan for the longest time so they knew that was a unique skill created by their boss. It was the most suitable skill to be used in close-range combat.

Shen Rufei missed Li Lanfeng and kicked the floor instead. Cracks formed on the floor again. The logistics commander saw it and decided to brainwashed himself. "I didn't see anything…"

Li Lanfeng noticed that Shen Rufei was stuck so he immediately aimed his weapon at Shen Rufei's face. The force caused wind to form around him.

Shen Rufei had not regained his balance so there was no way he could dodge the attack. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to receive the blow with his weapon.

"Boom!" A loud noise erupted beside Shen Rufei's ear. The sound of the collision burst his eardrum as the weapon struck too close to his ears. Blood slowly flowed out of his ear.

Shen Rufei gasped in pain. The pain irritated him. He used his left hand to grab Li Lanfeng's right hand which was holding the weapon. He raised his weapon and slammed it down on Li Lanfeng with a hideous grin.

Li Lanfeng was shocked by the loud noise just now. However, he was further away from the weapons when they collided so he was not hurt. However, without the pain to stimulate him, he reacted slower than Shen Rufei and was caught by surprise. He was unable to escape.

In the face of such crisis, Li Lanfeng remained calm. He knew that he couldn't avoid Shen Rufei's attack so he decided to release all his spiritual power. He gasped and blood flowed out of his mouth. The spiritual power he released was far greater than what his body could handle. Hence, he received some internal injuries.

But, with the help of his spiritual power, Li Lanfeng was able to analyze Shen Rufei's attack and the weapon's trajectory.

There is a chance! Li Lanfeng saw an opportunity. He flicked his wrist and threw his weapon out and caught it with his left hand. He focused all his internal energy on his left hand and swung his left hand as hard as he could at Shen Rufei.

"Bang!" Another loud noise rang by their ear drums. Both weapons flew out of their hands.

The noise hurt both their eardrums this time. However, since Shen Rufei was hurt the second time, he was in a worse state the Li Lanfeng. More blood flowed out from both of his ears. It dripped onto his shoulders and stained his military uniform.

Clang! Clang! The two weapons fell on the floor. They rolled a few meters away before stopping. Everyone noticed that the two straight metal pipes were now badly dented and damaged.

"Bam!" The two people that lost their weapon had no choice but to use their fist.

Shen Rufei held onto Li Lanfeng tightly so Li Lanfeng couldn't escape. However, Shen Rufei couldn't dodge Li Lanfeng's retaliation too.

"Bam!" "Bam!" "Bam!" …

Their fist smashed onto each other again and again. Soon, both their fists were filled with blisters and wounds. They had forgotten all about battling techniques. They were just using raw brutal force to attack one another. It was a fight based on strength and stamina.

The members of Lingtian were silent but they clenched their fist tightly and prayed for Li Lanfeng. They didn't expect the gentle and cunning Li Lanfeng to have such a violent side to him too. They felt their adrenaline pumping through their veins.

"Three more attacks and the match will end." Ling Lan's smile got brighter.

Three attacks later, Shen Rufei suddenly spit out a mouthful of blood. He lost. The injuries from their Qi-Jin attacks as well as the physical injuries from the brawl accumulated inside him and it overwhelmed his body.

Li Lanfeng smiled at him sarcastically. He used all his energy left and punched Shen Rufei one last time.

Shen Rufei flew ten meters away and slammed forcefully onto the floor. He didn't stand up again. He had been knocked unconscious.

Li Lanfeng couldn't control himself anymore. He spit out some blood and fell to the floor.

A figure flashed in front of him and caught him in his arm.

Li Lanfeng looked up at the cold and handsome face. He smiled. "Ling Lan, I didn't embarrass you, right?"

"You didn't." Ling Lan replied him softly. She couldn't see Li Lanfeng's face but she felt that his smile must be handsome. It should be a hopeful and lively smile.

Ling Lan understood how Li Lanfeng felt. His spectre abilities caused him to dominate the virtual world but in return, he gained a weak body. He couldn't pilot a mecha in real life. This was a huge blow to a man who wanted to become a powerful mecha operator.

Many people would have given up in their dreams and wallowed in self-pity. However, Li Lanfeng didn't. Although he had no chance of getting better, he still persevered for 20 years until he met Ling Lan…

Now, Li Lanfeng overcame his greatest hurdle, his weak body. Ling Lan believed that this man would create his own legacy soon.

After he heard Ling Lan's reply, Li Lanfeng closed his eyes happily and fainted. His body was still weaker than Shen Rufei but he managed to last longer because of his spiritual power. This was why he won.

Ling Lan carried him with both hands and shouted, "Shiyu!"

"Yes, captain!" Li Shiyu regained his senses and quickly rushed out.

Ling Lan passed Li Lanfeng to Li Shiyu. Li Shiyu carried Li Lanfeng towards the crowd with Zhao Jun quickly coming over to help. They placed Li Lanfeng on a bench nearest to them.

Li Shiyu felt around Li Lanfeng's body. He realized that Li Lanfeng was hanging on by a thread. He immediately took out a pendant around his neck. There were three diamonds on the pendant. Li Shiyu felt around the pendants and three silver needles appeared in his hand.

No one saw how he did it but Li Shiyu stopped the heavy bleeding with his needles. Then, he flicked the pendant opened. There was a miniature medicine bottle in the pendant.

Li Shiyu gently opened the bottle. He pinched Li Lanfeng's chin and opened his mouth. Li Shiyu poured the medicine into his mouth.

The effects would be faster and better if the medicine was directly injected into the bloodstream. However, Li Shiyu rushed over here just now so he didn't bring his medical kit with him. He could only feed the medicine to Li Lanfeng.

Luckily, Li Shiyu's medicine were very effective. He believed that none of the emergency medicine in the Federation was as effective as his. It was just a small bottle but it took him two years to make it. It required a lot of time and effort to make this one bottle of medicine.

Chapter 606 - Battle Clan!

A few seconds later, Li Lanfeng regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and saw Li Shiyu looking at him worryingly. He knew that Li Shiyu must have treated him just now.

Warmth spread through his body. The organs that were seriously injured started healing themselves. The excruciating pain in his body disappeared too. Li Lanfeng said gratefully, "Thank you, Shiyu."

"As long as you are fine." Li Shiyu saw that Li Lanfeng's condition gradually improved and heaved a sigh of relief. He was confident about his emergency medication but since the patient was his good friend, he couldn't help but to worry.

While Li Shiyu was treating Li Lanfeng, Ling Lan walked towards Shen Rufei who was lying on the floor and said, "Stop pretending. I know that you are conscious."

Shen Rufei opened his eyes. Malicious intent flashed passed his eyes. He wanted to pretend that he was unconscious so that people would not laugh at him. However, Ling Lan exposed him.

Ling Lan ignored the hatred in Shen Rufei's eyes. She looked down slightly and said, "Senior Colonel Shen, I hope that you will remember what happened today. Don't try to create trouble for us. If you do, you will suffer even more.

Ling Lan was obviously threatening him. Shen Rufei felt humiliation, anger and fear. All the emotions rushed up his head and he fainted. This time, it was real.

Ling Lan was speechless. Shen Rufei had such a weak heart. She just threatened him with just one sentence and he fainted.

However, Ling Lan achieved her motive so she didn't pester Shen Rufei anymore. She stood up straight and walked back to her companions. Everyone looked at her. They were all curious about Ling Lan.

The countdown timer suddenly rang at this moment. It signalled the end of the registration time window for the recruits. Those that didn't register in time would have two options. They could either go back to the recruit training camp and train while waiting for the next batch of recruits to come and register with them or they could go back to their military academy and continue their studies and apply next year.

However, most of the time, this problem didn't exist. Even if the recruits were heavily injured, they would still crawl over to register themselves.

None of the recruits left. During the training camp, their instructors had informed them about the procedures of registration. They had to remain in the atrium after registering. Half an hour later, they would be led to the North plaza. The hover buses driving to each respective battle clan were parked there. They would ride on the hover bus and go to their respective battle clans.

Of course, the recruits that joined old battle teams based on invitation could directly leave. The mainframe would distribute them to the mecha clan where the battle team was situated at.

Half an hour later, everyone felt their communicator vibrated. Ling Lan looked at her wrist. Middle Second Corps 250 Mecha Clan… Ling Lan felt speechless when she saw the name. It sounded like they were being scolded. 250 was used to describe someone who was half witted and had a pea-brain. Was this mecha clan suitable for them?

Chapter 607 - Selfish?

In the officer department in the 23rd Division, He Xuyang immediately sent a command to the mainframe after the recruits completed their registration. He sighed loudly when he saw the command being executed.

The second adviser Tong Zhiying wanted to discuss something with He Xuyang but he saw He Xuyang's expression. He asked, "What happened?"

He Xuyang didn't know what to say. He sighed again.

Tong Zhiying got curious. "What exactly happened?"

He Xuyang didn't close his computer screen yet so he pointed at it and asked Tong Zhiying to take a look at it himself.

Tong Zhiying glanced at the information. He couldn't help but laugh. "The Lingtian Battle Team? Do you have a grudge against them? Why did you send them to the 250 Mecha Clan?"

He Xuyang glared at him. "This is a test." He couldn't tell him that this was a decision made by the General. Poor Young Master Lan.

"Test? Can you don't say things that you don't even believe in?" Tong Zhiying refuted, "I hope that this battle team would escape from the curse and not be destroyed there." Tong Zhiying sighed after he finished speaking.

250 Mecha Clan was a special mecha clan. Its presence gave General Ling Xiao a headache. There was nothing he could do for 250 Mecha Clan. He could only leave them to fend for themselves.

Ling Lan brought the people from her battle team to the plaza. There were many hover buses parked above the plaza.

Every ten meters, there was a boarding gate. Ling Lan chose a gate that had no one waiting in line and checked the kiosk near the gate. She realized that only the name of the corps were shown. The names of specific mecha clans were not displayed. Ling Lan knew that, if no one formed a new battle team, there would only be a few recruits entering each mecha clan. Some mecha clan might not even have recruits. These hover buses would send the recruits to the corps and then, the corps would arrange them to be sent to their respective mecha clans.

Ling Lan chose the Middle Second Corps and keyed in the number of people she had on her battle team. Then, she patiently waited for the hover bus to come.

Ling Lan didn't like the number of her mecha clan. However, she knew that there was no special meaning to '250' in this era. It was just a number. She felt that she might be thinking too much about it.

Very soon, a hover bus came by. The door opened. Ling Lan was standing in the front so she saw that there were already a few people on the bus.

Ling Lan had a good memory so she recognized the four people in the bus. They were the captains of battle teams. The other two people sitting next to them were recruits. They must be the ones that were selected by the captains. The captains were stunned when they saw Ling Lan. After a while, one of them rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "I didn't expect you all to come to our Middle Second Corps. This is a blessing for us. We welcome you all with open arms."

The captain was too enthusiastic. He looked as though something amazing fell onto his lap. Ling Lan had a bad feeling about this… She shouldn't have let down her guard so easily.

"Can we get into the bus?" Ling Lan calmed herself down and asked.

"Yes, of course." The captain realized that he was blocking the entrance so he hurriedly moved to the side.

Ling Lan entered the bus. Her team members followed behind her. She randomly sat on a seat. Li Lanfeng wanted to sit beside Ling Lan but he gave up the idea. Ling Lan had an image to maintain as the captain of a battle team. Li Lanfeng sat with Zhao Jun on the seats right behind Ling Lan's.

The other two captains wanted to sit next to Ling Lan too. However, the cold aura that she gave out deterred them from going anywhere near her. They chose to sit in the row in front of Ling Lan's.

Once everyone sat down and there was no more new request for the hover bus, the soldier driving the bus closed the door and left the plaza.

To protect the locations of the military bases, their coordinates were not entered into the optical supercomputer of the hover buses. Instead, the buses were manually operated.

After driving for a while, one of the captains couldn't control himself anymore and asked Ling Lan, "Which mecha clan are you allocated to?"

"250," Ling Lan replied coldly.

"Huh?" The captain gave a look of disbelief.

"Beep!" The hover bus's alarm sounded. Everyone looked at the driver. The soldier immediately maneuver the bus back to its original route. It had gone off its designated route just now.

"I'm sorry. I made a mistake just now," The soldier apologised hurriedly.

Ling Lan frowned. The reaction from the driver as well as the captain told her that there was something amiss with 250 Mecha Clan.

"Is there something wrong with 250 Mecha Clan?" Ling Lan looked at the captain with her cold eyes.

The captain looked at Ling Lan with pity. "Yes. That place… sigh, once you experienced it for yourself, you will understand." The captain turned back and faced the front. He never spoke to Ling Lan again. It was as though he was afraid that Ling Lan would ask him more questions.

By now, Ling Lan knew that there was something amiss with 250 Mecha Clan. If not, the captain would not give her such a look. She saw pity, regret, and sympathy in the captain's eyes just now. It was as if they were hopeless.

"Little Four, give me all the information you can find for 250 Mecha Clan." Since she couldn't ask them, Ling Lan decided to use her ultimate cheatsheet, Little Four.

"Yes, boss." Little Four was playing a tower defense game with someone in the virtual world. However, when he heard the command given by his boss, he immediately stopped his game.

Since his opponent spent so much time playing with him, he should give him some benefits. Little Four thought to himself when he left the game.

After a few seconds, Little Four gathered all the data about 250 Mecha Clan. He didn't leave any information out, not even rumors.

Ling Lan flipped through the materials in her mindscape. Her frown got deeper.

Ling Lan didn't believe that it was a coincidence. Her instinct told her that her father must have had a part to play in putting their battle team in 250 Mecha Clan.

Her father made things difficult for her again. By now, Ling Lan was used to it.

"I will just take things as it comes along." Since she couldn't change what was going to happen, she would just embrace it. Ling Lan was not a coward. She threw 250 Mecha Clan to the back of her mind and went to take a rest.

In the hacker department of the Flying Dragon Special Forces, many captains of the battle teams in the Flying Dragon Special Forces were waiting for a piece of news.

"We found it! 17 people from the 23rd Division formed their battle team today. We searched all the names of Sky God's son and finally found his youngest son, Qi Long. We found that battle team that he is in." The hacker that was in charge of this task was the commander of the hacker department, Brain One. The hacker department took many hours before they found the information that they wanted.

On the big screen in the hacker department, the word 'Lingtian' was shown on it.

"Qi Long is the captain of the team?" Someone asked.

"We are not sure. We are unable to get the detailed namelist of the Lingtian Battle Team," Brain One, who was lying in his login pod, frowned as he said that.

He didn't expect the firewall of the 23rd Division's virtual world to be so strong. It took them a few hours to break through the wall. He even had to lead the team personally. Despite this, they only managed to breakthrough a certain part of the wall. He felt embarrassed.

"Even you can't do it?" Everyone was shocked. Brain One was the strongest hacker in the Federation. If he said that he was the second best, no one would dare to say that he or she was the best.

"Yes. The firewall of the 23rd Division is made up of 128 passcodes which alternates every second. If we can't break the code in a second, we will have to restart the decoding process again," Brain One said in a depressed tone.

Alternating 128 passcodes in a second was the ultimate firewall in the Flying Dragon Special Forces' mainframe. They didn't expect a division to have such a firewall too.

Do other divisions have this firewall too? Is it just specially given to the 23rd Division? Brain One felt helpless. With his skills, there was only a 1% success rate that he could break the 128 codes in one second.

Thinking about his, Brain One immediately went to hack another division's mainframe. He realized that this division only have 64 passcodes alternating every second. He heaved a sigh of relief. Seems like 23rd Division was an exception.

"Have you found it?" The rest of the people thought that Brain One was looking for Lingtian's information so when he sighed in relief, they thought that he found more information.

"No." Brain One quickly got out of the mainframe of the division. He entered the mainframe of the 23rd Division and saw the firewall again.

"We will need a few days to bypass this firewall," Brain One said after running through the success rate in his mind.

"Actually, there is no need to know the detailed name list of Lingtian, right. Since Qi Long is in the battle team, we can be certain that Sky God appeared in the second mission. Having a good father is really useful. He could clear all the obstacles for you."

"This is frustrating. How dare they humiliate us." Someone snorted.

"Head, what do you think?" Everyone looked at the man that was relaxing on the sofa. Head was just a nickname. His real name was Head One. He was the captain of the Dragon Head Battle Team.

"We have Qi Long's information, right?" Head One asked.

"He is a recruit from the First Men's Military Academy." Brain One threw Qi Long's information at Head One.

"Since he is a recruit, let a recruit handle him." Head stood up.

"What do you mean?" The other captains were confused.

"It is time to let our prodigy make his appearance," Head One replied them calmly. The Flying Dragon Special Forces was not a force that you could bully so easily.

Everyone's eyes lit up. Qi Long was a recruit so if they sent an experienced member, other people might say that they were bullying him. However, if they sent another recruit to defeat Qi Long, no one could say anything.

"Actually, any recruit would do. There is no need to send him." Someone felt that there was no need to send someone so powerful to deal with such a weak person.

"Since they want to step on our faces, there is no need for us to care about their feelings." Head One left after he finished his sentence.

"Head seems furious," The other captains looked at Head One's back and whispered among themselves.

"As compared to the commander, Head loves the Flying Dragon Special Forces a lot more. He will not let the Flying Dragon Special Forces be embarrassed just like this. Head is announcing a war against Sky God," Someone explained.

"What do you think Head would ask the prodigy to do?"

"The first step would be to form a battle team."

Since the other party had formed his own battle team, their prodigy had to have his own battle team too.

Ling Xiao sat in his office and looked at his computer. There was a message written on it: Lingtian Battle Team was allocated to the Middle Second Corps 250 Mecha Clan ." Ling Xiao felt confused. For the first time, he doubted himself. He didn't know if he made the right decision.

"Beep!" His communicator rang. Ling Xiao looked at the name and accepted the call. "Ling Xiao, you let my son take the blame." The roar that came from the communicator almost burst Ling Xiao's eardrum.

Ling Xiao replied calmly, "Did I arrange for your son to enter my dear… son's battle team?"

Sob, when can he say that Ling Lan was his daughter? Ling Xiao moaned to himself. Fine, he was the one that made all these happened. Ling Xiao remembered the truth and stopped feeling depressed.

Qi Yaoyang was speechless. His son was the one who wanted to be in Ling Lan's team. Seemed like his son walked into the tiger's den himself. His son was just like him, taking the blame for the Ling family. Qi Yaoyang felt frustrated.

"As for the blame, I didn't want it to happen too." Ling Xiao shrugged innocently. "The captain is Ling Lan. However, the other party thought of you first, not me. Big Brother Yaoyang, shouldn't you self-reflect?" Ling Xiao said seriously.

Qi Yaoyang shouted in anger, "What can be wrong with me? I am definitely better than you, you hypocrite." Then, he slammed his communicator and the call ended.

Ling Xiao laughed silently. He talked to himself, "But people believe that I am fair. There is nothing I can do about it."

If I was fair, why would I set so many obstacles for my daughter? If I was fair, why would I create this lie to help my daughter? If I was fair, why would the secret still remain as a secret?

I am just a selfish person.

Ling Xiao closed his optical supercomputer. His face turned cold. If anyone saw Ling Xiao now, they would feel that Ling Lan was indeed his child. They had exactly the same aura.

Chapter 608 - The Price Of Being Stubborn?

Ling Lan and her team members were sent to the Middle Second Corps. The commander of the Middle Second Corps was elated when he heard that five ace mecha masters were sent to his corps. However, when he saw the mecha clan they were allocated to, his heart turned cold.

He sent a request to the headquarters of the 23rd Division and pleaded for the Lingtian Battle Team to be sent to any other mecha clan. But, his request was rejected. The headquarters replied that new battle teams are required to stay in their allocated mecha clan for at least a year before they could be moved somewhere else.

In the beginning, this rule was set to protect mecha clans. It was to prevent the higher authorities from pulling people out of the mecha clan just because they noticed that someone was powerful. It could also protect the recruits from being targeted and transferred to other mecha clans just because his faction was different.

However, the 250 Mecha Clan was a forsaken mecha clan. All the mecha operators inside were useless and had no ability to fight at all. No one wanted to stay there. The only benefit would be not having to go onto the battlefield.

But battlefield was where powerful people should go. There were many talented mecha operators in the Lingtian Battle Team. If they were sent to the 250 Mecha Clan, it would be the same as destroying them. The commander sighed. This was a crime!

Some people might be curious as to why the 250 Mecha Clan still existed. Why couldn't they just retrench these mecha operators or get new positions for them?

Well, the Federation couldn't retrench them. All these mecha operators had many outstanding achievements in the past. Some were even commended in front of the entire Federation.

However, heroes would grow old and die too. Due to certain reasons, these heroes became useless. They were not crippled. With the technology now, any form of disabilities could be cured.

They were mentally unstable. Some lost the courage to fight in the battlefield. Others would become maniacs once they operated a mecha and start killing people around them. There were even operators who got sick of mechas and felt that they would never be able to operate a mecha again.

They had no families. They dedicated their entire life to the Federation and only knew how to kill people. They didn't know how to survive in a normal world and had no other skills. The Federation had to take care of them. If they didn't, they would lose the faith of the soldiers who were fighting in the battlefields.

These people used to be supported by their original mecha clans. But, when the 23rd Division first formed, Ling Xiao had to request for more manpower from the other divisions. The other divisions took this chance to stuff these people into the 23rd Division.

By the time Ling Xiao noticed this, there was nothing he could do. However, he didn't want to give up on them. He formed the 250 Mecha Clan and gathered all these people together. He hoped that they would relive their glory someday.

The 250 Mecha Clan was not in the list of mecha clans for recruits. But for some reason, this year, it appeared on the list and even got the most powerful recruits…

The commander of the Middle Second Corps felt an ache in his heart. He didn't know if the recruits would be affected by those useless soldiers. Would they become useless as well and give up on themselves a year later? The commander had tears in his eyes when he sent the Lingtian Battle Team off.

The 250 Mecha Clan was not far away from the main base of the Middle Second Corps. Besides Ling Lan and her team members, there was only the driver left in the bus. The two captains were sad when they left the hover bus. They must have felt that if Ling Lan didn't form her battle team, they would not be allocated to the 250 Mecha Clan.

The hover bus travelled for two more hours before reaching the base.

Everyone felt at ease when they saw the base. It looked very new. The main gate was bright and beautiful. The high walls surrounding the base showed that it was a highly protected base. With such facilities, the 250 Mecha Clan should not be a bad clan.

Ling Lan raised her eyebrows in surprise. She had prepared herself to see a dilapidated base but it was better than what she imagined.

However, her relief was destroyed the moment they landed.

There were no soldiers on duty outside the main gate. The driver of the hover bus was used to it. He honked his horn repeatedly to signal that they had arrived.

"So noisy." A voice came from the sentry tower. A few moments later, a middle-aged soldier rubbed his eyes as he popped his head out of the window. He saw the hover bus. He yawned and stretched his body before slowly making his way over.

Ling Lan and her companions frowned when they saw the attire of the soldier. He was wearing a military uniform but he didn't wear his military hat and military boots. He had a pair of slippers on his feet. The beam handgun that was supposed to be on every soldier on duty was not on his body too.

Ling Lan shook her head secretly. As expected, she shouldn't have much hope for 250 Mecha Clan.

The soldier walked over with his eyes half closed. He didn't ask them who they were. He immediately took the pass from the driver and scanned it with a device. Without reading the information on the device, he opened the gate. Then, he slowly returned to his sentry tower and continued sleeping.

Everyone from Lingtian was speechless. What kind of Mecha Clan was this? Was it so powerful that no one dared to attack it or was it too lousy to pose a threat to anyone?

Ling Lan tapped her index finger repeatedly on the handle of the chair she was sitting on. She had been too positive about 250 Mecha Clan. Its condition was worse than what she thought.

The hover bus entered the base once the gate opened. Ling Lan saw the rusty pieces of training equipment in the training dojo. The inside of the base was entirely different from its exterior. It seemed dead. There were no sounds of soldiers training or any signs of life.

Information about the 250 Mecha Clan appeared in Ling Lan's mind.

250 Mecha Clan. It derived its name from there being 250 mecha operators in the mecha clan. They were the most powerful ace mecha masters in the entire Federation. However, for various reasons, all of them gave up on themselves. Some got their powers sealed.

A few of the mecha operators couldn't even win against an advanced mecha operator. These ace mecha operators had no families and had no other skills beside in killing people and fighting in wars.

They were mentally unstable as well and would go crazy if they got stimulated. The military was unable to let them leave the army. They had many achievements before so the military couldn't just abandon them too. Hence, these mecha operators were left in the base.

Now, the 23rd Division was responsible for these people. Ling Xiao didn't know what to do with them so he just ignored them.

"This is troublesome…" Ling Lan didn't think that her father would bring her battle team out of 250 Mecha Clan if she just waited and didn't do anything for one year.

"Does he want me to solve this problem?" Ling Lan thought about it gloomily.

As expected of her father who liked to make her life difficult. Why must she help him to solve the problems he couldn't solve? Ling Lan would complain to Lan Luofeng once she had the chance to. F**k.

"Maybe this is a challenge? This might be the price I have to pay for being stubborn." She recalled how Ling Xiao easily agreed to give her two more years in the military. Thinking back, he must have started his plan then.

Her father is really sly and cunning. Ling Lan cursed her father in her heart.

Finally, they arrived at the dormitory district. The hover bus stopped and the soldier opened the door. He explained to them, "The accommodation area and the office area are just in front. Your commanding officer should be there too."

Once Ling Lan and her team members got down, the hover bus left. It seemed as though there was a monster chasing after the bus.

"Looks like we are abandoned." Han Jijyun smiled bitterly.

"I look 250 up Mecha Clan just now but found no information about it. News about 250 Mecha Clan has been restricted," Li Lanfeng said calmly. He started searching for data about the 250 Mecha Clan when he noticed the weird expressions of the two captains. However, he didn't have the authority to access the information.

"Only soldiers whose ranks are higher than a Lieutenant Colonel would be able to access the information. We don't have the rights." Ling Lan was not surprised.

Li Lanfeng looked at Ling Lan. Since Ling Lan knew what rank could access the information, it meant that she had found the relevant information already.

Ling Lan exchanged a glance with Li Lanfeng. She was happy to know that Li Lanfeng understood what she meant. She looked at her other team members and realized that Han Jijyun understood her too. Xie Yi and Lin Zhong-qing reacted slightly slower. Luo Lang and Qi Long, on the other hand, just looked at the people around them. They were used to throwing such complicated matters to their teammates to think about. This was not a good thing. Ling Lan decided that once they settled down in the Mecha Clan, she would find some time to train both of their thinking abilities.

Two people surprised Ling Lan with their performance. One of them was Gao Jinyun. He understood her words around the same time as Lin Zhong-qing and Xie Yi. The other person was Luo Chao. She was a timid and shy young girl. She reacted even faster than Gao Jinyun. Seems like her team members were slowly improving by themselves.

Ling Lan was gratified. She continued, "Although 250 Mecha Clan is known as the grave of mecha operators, I believe that there are powerful people hiding in this place. Everyone must be careful. Before we understand the situation here, control yourselves and not make any trouble."

Ling Lan decided to point out Li Yingjie. "Li Yingjie, don't look around. I am talking about you."

The other team members laughed and looked back at Li Yingjie. Li Yingjie blushed in embarrassment. He refuted, "I am not an idiot. I know what to do."

"Remember your promise then. Don't turn into an idiot," Ling Lan replied calmly.

Everyone couldn't help but laugh out loud. Li Yingjie glared at Ling Lan angrily with puffed up cheeks.

Ling Lan ignored Li Yingjie. She had warned him. If he still created trouble for himself, she would not help him.

"Boss, I found it." Little Four showed Ling Lan the location of the regiment commander of the Middle Second Corps. Ling Lan didn't see anyone when they came over to the meeting place so she asked Little Four to help her find the regiment commander. They must complete a mission given by the regiment commander before they were officially considered a part of 250 Mecha Clan.

Ling Lan brought her team members to the place where the regiment commander was at immediately after she got the location.

On an empty field at the back of the dormitory district, a middle-aged soldier laid on the grass. He had a bottle of alcohol in his hand and was drinking from it continuously. He seemed to be drunk.

Footsteps came towards him from afar. His eyes suddenly turned sharp and a cold glint flashed passed it. However, in the next second, his eyes became unfocused again.

"Old Brother Liu, you are here again." A pair of military boots appeared beside him. A gentle-looking and handsome 30 year old soldier smiled at him. His arrival caused the dead atmosphere to become lively again.

Old Brother Liu opened his half closed eyes and looked at the person that came, in a daze. After a minute, he seemed to regain his focus and said, "Ah… commander…!" He burped. The smell of alcohol filled up the air.

The person that came frowned. The frown only lasted for a second. After that, he persuaded the soldier on the ground, "Old Brother Liu, what happened last time was not your fault. How can you answer to your team members if you continue to be drunk like this?"

Chapter 609 - Discovery?

The real name of Old Brother Liu was Liu Fuquan. It was a normal-sounding name but he was once a member of the famous Seven Stars of the North. However, the past prodigy was now a drunkard who drank his life away every day.

"Regiment commander, you don't understand. That time, we said that we will have a good drink together after the war. I lived so that I can drink for them…" Liu Fuquan drank another mouthful of alcohol. He raised his bottle into the air and shouted, "Brothers, let's drink!"

He gulped down a few more mouthfuls as though he was drinking for his brothers. The alcohol rushed up his head and he fell asleep.

The regiment commander sighed when he saw that the person got drunk again. He carried him back to the dorm and placed him carefully on his bed. Then, he closed the door and left.

The moment the door closed, the middle-aged soldier who was supposed to be drunk opened his eyes. They were bright and sharp. He smiled sarcastically before closing his eyes again. Very soon, a loud snore echoed throughout the room.

The regiment commander was standing outside the room. He only left after he heard the snore. The expression on his face was no longer gentle.

Ling Lan stopped in her tracks.

"What is the matter?" Qi Long almost bumped into Ling Lan but he quickly stabilized himself.

"The other party has changed his position." Ling Lan looked at the map that Little Four showed her. Her target was just directly opposite from her. However, she was blocked by a four storey building. Ling Lan estimated based on the width of the building that if she walked around it, she would be a long distance away from her target.

Ling Lan was not interested in playing hide-and-seek. She ran and stepped on a tree in front of the building. Then, she leapt into the air and grabbed onto a window sill. She climbed up a few windows and reached the rooftop in a blink of an eye.

Qi Long got excited when he saw what Ling Lan did. He followed her without any hesitation and jumped onto the roof too.

"Boss, why are we up here?" Qi Long looked down. He just followed Ling Lan blindly.

Ling Lan pointed at a handsome soldier walking below. "He is our target, the regiment commander of the Mecha Clan."

"I understand!" Qi Long's eyes lit up and he jumped down.

"What did you understand?" Ling Lan was shocked as she looked at Qi Long pulmetting down towards the regiment commander. Her head started to hurt.

The regiment commander was thinking about Liu Fuquan so he didn't notice what was happening around him. Suddenly, he felt a strong pressure coming towards him. Without any hesitation, he punched at the direction where the pressure was coming from.

"Boom!" Qi Long punched back and the strong force generated threw him into the air. Qi Long spun around and dodged the impact of the force and landed safely on the ground.

He licked his lips in excitement. He didn't expect the commander of the 250 Mecha Clan to be a peak level Qi-Jin master. His eyes were filled with malicious intent and ambition. He didn't look like a hopeless person. Qi Long felt that the 250 Mecha Clan was not so bad after all.

The regiment commander of 250 Mecha Clan looked at the young man in front of him angrily. If he didn't hide his true abilities, he must be a recruit. However, no recruit was ever sent to the 250 Mecha Clan . Why did this recruit appear here? Did someone realized his motive for becoming the regiment commander of the 250 Mecha Clan? Was he sent here to assess him?

The regiment commander of the 250 Mecha Clan became vigilant. A malicious aura formed around him.

Liu Fuquan felt the killing intent coming from the regiment commander. He sat up and slowly walked to the side of the window. He slowly lifted up a small portion of the curtain and looked out.

"Peak level of Qi-Jin? Who is this person? Why is he so strong?" The people in 250 were all useless. Only a few of them managed to maintain the middle-level of Qi-Jin. The rest had lost all their physical skills. He carefully recalled all the people in the 250 Mecha Clan. He was not anyone of them. Was he new?

But this person's eyes were bright and filled with life. His fighting spirit was strong so he was not a useless person. Why did he come here?

Liu Fuquan turned serious. He knew that the regiment commander of 250 Mecha Clan came for him. He pretended to be drunk everyday so that the regiment commander would be fooled by him. These few days, the regiment commander finally let down his guard against him. The appearance of this mysterious person… Liu felt pressured.

Suddenly, a pair of cold eyes appeared in front of him. A young man was hanging upside down outside the window.

Liu Fuquan's hand shook and the curtain he was holding dropped. He shrunk into a corner. Was he discovered? His heart pounded furiously.

Liu Fuquan felt a pain in his heart. He clutched his heart and bore the excruciating pain.

Every time he got nervous, his heart would hurt. He checked his body using all kinds of equipment but no problems were found. In the end, he was diagnosed with a psychological problem and was sent to 250 Mecha Clan.

Damn this psychological problem. Even though he was sent here, his enemy continued to chase after him. They sent people over everyday to check on him. Luckily, he hid himself well and fooled his opponents for five years.

However, he got exposed today. That young man must have saw him just now.

Liu Fuquan was agitated. He wanted to rush out and kill that young man. However, he knew that the young man must be stronger than him since he came near him without him noticing.

Liu Fuquan was not a rash person. He controlled his emotions even though he was nervous.

"Captain, what are you looking at?" A gentle voice sounded. Liu Fuquan was surprised. Because of the regiment commander of the 250 Mecha Clan, he hated people who pretended to be mild-mannered. But, this gentle voice was soothing and calming. He couldn't bring himself to hate it.

"I am just thinking about who will win." A cold voice replied. Liu Fuquan remembered the pair of cold eyes just now. That must be the young man.

He didn't expect the person to remain outside his window. Didn't he see him? Since the room was dark, that person might not have seen anything. Liu Fuquan hoped that this was the truth.

Chapter 610 - Confusion!

"Based on the might of the attack just now, their strengths are similar. It might take a while before someone wins," The gentle voice analyzed.

"I agree."

"Boss, what shall we do now?" A new voice sounded. Someone else came.

Liu Fuquan had calmed down but he realized that there were many people standing on the roof above him.

"Bang." Someone landed on the roof again. "Chang Xinyuan, why do you need an equipment to help you climb a roof. You need to practice your physical skills more."

The person called Chang Xinyuan panted. He said in a depressed tone, "Is Refinement weak? I don't want to compare myself with monsters like you all. Right, Little Sister Luo Chao?"

A sweet and gentle voice replied him, "Big Brother Chang, don't be sad. We will work hard together and advance to Qi-Jin level soon." The girl didn't understand what Chang Xinyuan was trying to convey and unintentionally hurt Chang Xinyuan's feelings again.

Chang Xinyuan shouted in displeasure, "Little sister Luo Chao, you…" The people around them laughed loudly.

Liu Fuquan frowned. These people were making too much of a commotion. The regiment commander would notice them soon.

As expected, the commander looked up towards the roof and shouted, "Who are you?"

Ling Lan glanced at Li Lanfeng. Li Lanfeng jumped down and landed in front of the regiment commander. He saluted and replied, "Regiment Commander, Lingtian Battle Team reporting."

"Lingtian Battle Team?" The commander was stunned for a moment. Then, he remembered something. He looked at his communicator and realized that there was a message from the 23rd Division headquarters.

He lowered his head to hide his expression. Why did the headquarters give him this batch of recruits? Was it just a coincidence? Did the mainframe made a mistake?

He turned off his communicator. When he raised his head, he was smiling. "Welcome. All of you are the first batch of recruits ever since the formation of 250 Mecha Clan." He pretended to be elated. "I knew that the 23rd Division had not given up on us. They even sent us the best recruits."

Li Lanfeng smiled and replied politely, "You are being too courteous."

The commander looked at Li Lanfeng carefully. He noticed that his uniform and rank was not that of a recruit. This person was not a recruit. The regiment commander became vigilant again. He felt that these people came with a motive.

"You don't look like a recruit." The commander pointed at Li Lanfeng's shoulder and smiled strangely.

Li Lanfeng nodded. "Yes. The captain of our battle team came this year so we decided to follow him again."

"Your captain must be a powerful person." The commander appeared to have made a casual comment.

In order to become a major, this soldier must have been exceptional in a certain field. For instance, he might be an ace mecha master, a mecha engineer, a deputy captain of an interstellar force, or someone who had gained many military achievements. Whatever it was, this person was not a normal soldier.

"We grew up together and we had a strong relationship with each other. Hence, we decided to stay together in the military," since the commander asked casually, Li Lanfeng replied with half the truth.

The commander narrowed his eyes. Li Lanfeng appeared to have answered him but no real information about their captain was given. He still didn't know what qualities the captain had that made such a powerful soldier to follow him.

"Is your captain not going to come down?" Since he couldn't get anything out of this Major, he should just find the captain directly.

Li Lanfeng smiled and waved towards the roof. His expression seemed relaxed and there was no respect in his actions. The commander wondered if this Major and the captain really grew up together.

Qi Long was unhappy at Li Lanfeng. "Why did you come down so quickly? Can you let me finish my fight first?" His attitude was even worse than Li Yingjie.

Li Lanfeng's face turned cold. He slapped Qi Long's forehead. "What are you saying? Apologise to the regiment commander now."

He then turned to the regiment commander and explained politely, "Regiment Commander, this is Qi Long. He has been like this ever since young. Whenever he sees someone powerful, he wants to fight with them no matter what rank they are. He created many troubles for us. Please forgive him."

Qi Long touched his forehead in displeasure. This Li Lanfeng wanted to hit him again but Qi Long instantly replied, "I know,I know. I will apologize. Regiment commander, I'm sorry."

Li Lanfeng, I will get my revenge later! Qi Long gritted his teeth. Not just anyone could touch his forehead. Only his boss could do it.

The commander had no choice but to smile and forgive him. "It is okay. It is good to have a lively character in the team." After what Li Lanfeng said, he didn't have any reason to teach this recruit a lesson even though he wanted to.

Ling Lan heard the entire conversation between Li Lanfeng and the regiment commander. He knew that Li Lanfeng wanted to confuse the regiment commander so she ordered the people beside her, "Those that are on Qi-Jin level, suppress it to Refinement."

Ling Lan taught all her team members from the original Lingtian Battle Clan how to suppress their physical skills. It was not difficult. As for its effectiveness, Ling Lan expressed that things which came from the learning space were of high-quality.

It was different from the practice of Qi-Jin in this world. As long as their opponent was not in the domain realm, they would not be exposed. Even if their enemy was in the domain realm, they could fool him if they were careful enough. As for Ling Lan's level, only her master, Mu Shui-qing, would be able to see through her.

Ling Lan suspected that her master had reached the God-Realm. A God-Realm master would be able to use their own bodies to fight toe to toe with a god-class mecha. That was how powerful a God-Realm master was.

The people here were all smart people. Luo Lang. Xie Yi, Zhao Jun, Han Jijyun, Lin Zhong-qing immediately suppressed their physical skills. Only Li Yingjie didn't learn this skill before. Ling Lan saw hurt and blame in his eyes.

Erm… this person was not her responsibility, right? Ling Lan glanced at Li Shiyu. She wanted Li Shiyu to take care of his baby brother.

Li Shiyu smiled and pointed at the battle team's totem on their chest. Li Yingjie was her team member…

Ling Lan turned her head and ignored this sly Li Shiyu. Li Shiyu used to be a cute and innocent boy in the military academy. What made him change so much?

She looked at Li Lanfeng. He was the culprit. Li Shiyu must have been influenced by him.

Li Lanfeng suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He looked up towards his captain who had a slight frown on his face. He looked quite scary.

Chapter 611 - This Is The Dorm?

Ling Lan came down with her team members. He felt Ling Lan's cold aura. The regiment commander turned to look st Qi Long. He seemed to be in the mid-stage of Qi-Jin. However, he would not be able to become the captain based on his character…

The regiment commander seemed to have found the reason why Qi Long wasn't the captain. He let down some of his vigilance. But, he knew that he still had to observe them to figure out if they were really harmless.

The regiment commander brought them to his office to finish the registration process. Then, he gave them the address of their accommodation. They were not staying in the building which they were at just now. Their accommodation was in another direction. This building only had three levels.

The regiment commander passed them a map and reminded them of the meal times. Ling Lan saw that there was still some time before their meal so she decided to bring her members to their dormitory first.

The dormitory was a little far away. They had to walk pass half the military base in order to reach their dormitory from the canteen. The building where they met the regiment commander was at the center of the military base. It was close to all the important places in the base and had enough empty rooms to house them.

Seemed like their regiment commander was guarding against them. The 250 Mecha Clan was a forsaken team but the waters inside were deep.

When they reached their dormitory, everyone was stunned.

"This is the place that we will be staying at?" An old and dusty gate welcomed them. The path and sentry tower was covered with a layer of dust too. There were even broken stones and tiles thrown around the sides of the gate. It looked as though this place hadn't been used since it was built.

"Yes," Ling Lan compared the map and told her team members the painful truth.

Li Lanfeng walked up and pushed opened a small window on the door. A screen was revealed. He pressed the on button and the screen lit up.

"There is electricity. It is not too bad." Li Lanfeng said, "What is the passcode?"

Han Jijyun thought about something and replied, "Li Lanfeng, what is your passcode?" When they were distributing their rooms, each of them were given a passcode. They thought that it was the passcode to their rooms but from the looks of it, it might not be the case.

"9977198." Li Lanfeng was enlightened. He had a strong spiritual power causing him to a photographic memory.

"Mine is the same," Han Jijyun immediately replied.

"The passcode that we received is not our room passcode but the passcode for the main gate." Li Lanfeng entered the numbers. The door opened.

Everyone walked in and realized that the environment inside was not bad. It was just dusty. Their footprints could be clearly seen on the dusty floor.

The team members started looking around.

"There is a vacuum cleaner here." Luo Lang found one vacuum cleaner.

"There is another one here." Lin Zhong-qing found one too.

No others were found. Luo Lang and Lin Zhong-qing took the vacuum cleaners out. Vacuum cleaners were an essential item to the Federation but the ones in the mecha clans were more advanced.

However, passcodes were needed to operate the vacuum cleaners. No one knew what the passcodes were.

"Do we need to go the the logistics department and ask them to send someone over?" Luo Lang said in a depressed tone.

"No need," Han Jijyun and Li Lanfeng replied simultaneously.

Everyone looked at the two of them. Li Lanfeng smiled and signaled for Han Jijyun to explain to them. Han Jijyun went straight to the point. "Use the passcode for the main gate."

Luo Lang didn't understand them but he followed what Han Jiyun said. "Beep." The vacuum cleaners got activated and it started cleaning the courtyard.

After they finished tidying the courtyard, they went up the building. By now, they knew that they were the only ones in this building.

There were three levels in the building and 18 rooms that were of different sizes. Everyone discussed and decided to live together on the third level.

As for the other two levels, they would leave it for later use. Since they were the only ones in the building, they took it as their headquarters and wanted to make it as comfortable as they could.

Chang Xinyuan was already prepared to show his true talent. As an outstanding mecha engineer, his expertise was at modification.

Even Li Shiyu wanted to make one of the rooms his personal laboratory…

As there were many rooms, they did not have to squeeze 6 people in a single room. Of course, people that were close to each other chose to stay together. The only two females, Luo Chao and Han Xuya, stayed together.

Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng stayed together. They lived together in the Nameless Battle Team so they decided to continue to stay together.

Li Yingjie pestered Li Shiyu and wanted to stay with him. Li Shiyu was the only person he was familiar with in the entire Lingtian Battle Team. He held onto him tightly. Li Shiyu decided to bear with him since he was his little brother.

Only Gao Jinyun and his friends decided to live together as six people in a single room. They were used to staying together.

Besides Ling Lan, everyone had companions living with them. No one wanted to stay with Ling Lan. They still wanted to live a few more years. They didn't want to be pressured by Ling Lan's aura everyday.

Why was there an empty building for the Lingtian Battle Team?

In a standard mecha clan, there should be around 1500 mecha operators. Adding in the people from the mecha logistics and the logistics department, there should be a total of 4500 to 5000 people in a mecha clan. A mecha clan needed 2 to 3 logisticians in order for the mecha clan to operate comfortably.

In the 250 Mecha Clan, there were 250 mecha operators but only less than 100 logisticians. Half of them were working in the kitchen so there were only around 50 logisticians repairing the mechas.

This showed that the 250 Mecha Clan was forsaken. The headquarters only wanted to ascertain their basic survival needs.

There was a huge shortage of manpower in the 250 Mecha Clan . Hence, many locations were empty. This allowed the Lingtian Battle Team to have an entire building to themselves. If this was in any other mecha clans, such a situation would never happen.

Everyone activated their small vacuum cleaners in their room and quickly gathered in Ling Lan's room.

Ling Lan's room was the only suite on the third level. It was meant for high ranking officers in a mecha clan.

Ling Lan felt that the 250 Mecha Clan was not as bad as she imagined. At least she didn't need to live with the males…

With the help of the vacuum cleaners, Luo Chao, Han Xuya, and Lin Zhong-qing, her living room was clean and tidy.

Ling Lan sat on her sofa and asked, "What did you all notice along the way?"

Han Jijyun replied first, "The regiment commander is a powerful and ambitious person. He doesn't like us." He scanned the living room and continued, "If not, he would not send us here."

Li Lanfeng added on. "The 250 Mecha Clan is filled with people who are unable to go on the battlefield anymore. There might be some hidden talents here but on the surface, it is a forsaken mecha clan. For an ambitious person to come here and not welcome our arrival, it means that his motive is on these useless mecha operators. He is afraid that we would interrupt his plans."

"Also, there are a few strong auras coming from the building that we were on just now. Our captain should have sensed them." Li Lanfeng looked at Ling Lan. They were still getting use to calling Ling Lan their captain since they were in the military now. Sometimes, they would forget and call her boss.

Ling Lan nodded. When Qi Long attacked, she noticed a few strong auras. One of them was just below her so she went down to observe it. However, she seemed to have scared the person. The other three auras were further away but since she already sensed them, she would be able to recognize them if she sensed them again.

"However, since the captain suppressed his strength, the regiment commander will not pay too much attention to him. He will just be on guard against me and Qi Long." Qi Long and him didn't suppress their power so they were the two strongest people in the battle team now.

"I think that only Lanfeng gained the interest of the regiment commander." Han Jijyun suddenly said, "Lanfeng's gesture caused the regiment commander to lose interest in Qi Long." He glanced at Qi Long and smiled. "I didn't expect Qi Long to act so well."

Qi Long sniggered. "I just had an inspiration and duplicated Li Yingjie's actions."

Li Yingjie got angry. "Are you saying that I am an idiot?"

"When you act arrogant, you seem quite stupid," Qi Long shrugged and replied.

"I want to fight you!" Li Yingjie was furious. He wanted to rush towards Qi Long but suddenly, he felt his body went numb. He fainted onto the sofa.

Li Shiyu removed a syringe from Li Yingjie's neck calmly. He said, "The world is finally quiet."

Those people who knew what was in the syringe shivered in fear. They didn't expect the military doctor to use this thing on his own teammate. That person was his cousin too… Sob, their military doctor is so scary!

Chapter 612 - Chance?

Ling Lan looked at Li Shiyu nonchalantly. After everyone had calmed down, she said, "The situation is advantageous for us. Lanfeng will continue fooling the regiment commander. The rest of us…"

Ling Lan turned serious. She gave her orders directly, "Will find out everything about the 250 Mecha Clan in the shortest amount of time."

"Yes, captain!" Everyone stood up to receive the order.

After giving her orders, she led her team members to the logistics department to claim their new uniform, daily necessities, and bed sheets. After that, it was meal time so they went to the canteen.

The other mecha operators in the 250 Mecha Clan had climbed out of their dormitory and were all coming to the canteen. To them, nothing was more important than eating, not even sleeping.

Liu Fuquan sat alone in the corner of the canteen. There were many people sitting alone just like him. Everyone came from different divisions so there was no need for any interactions between them. Hence, they just took care of themselves.

However, some troublemakers which came from different divisions became friends with each other. At the round table in the canteen, five to six hunks were sitting together and having a conversation.

"Hey, did you hear about some recruits were sent to our mecha clan?" The one talking was called Fu Qiangwei. He was once a captain of a battle team in the 4th Division. However, during his time on the battlefield, his entire battle team was sacrificed. Only he survived. Ever since then, he became vicious and violent. He was unable to control his emotions. Whenever he was in a bad mood, he would hit other mecha operators in the 4th Division. The 4th Division couldn't bear with him anymore and sent him to the 23rd Division.

"Interesting. Looks like we have new toys." Someone gave a sinister smile. That someone was Yan Mingjun from the 7th Division. The pressure from the life-or-death situations on the battlefield was too much for him. It twisted his personality and he became a sadist. However, he was always able to escape from punishments as he had ample reasons for his actions. When the 23rd Division was looking for more manpower, his commander sent him over.

The other people got excited too. They had bullied everyone that could be bullied in the 250 Mecha Clan so they were bored.

These people were from other mecha clans in the 23rd Division. But, not long after they came, they had a relapse and started to hurt other people. Some didn't leave any evidence behind while others couldn't be prosecuted or kicked out of the military for various reasons. Hence, these people were transferred to the 250 Mecha Clan by He Xuyang.

Liu Fuquan pursed his lips when he heard what they said. He didn't think that they would be able to succeed. If there were just a few recruits, it might be possible to bully them. However… Liu Fuquan remembered that bunch of people that were on his roof. He prayed that those old soldiers would not die too terribly.

"What do you think about those recruits?" A voice appeared beside Liu Fuquan. Liu Fuquan raised his head calmly. Someone had sat down opposite from him. The person was a loner just like him. His name was Yang Mingzhi, once a regiment commander of a mecha clan in the 1st Division. He was an elite ace mecha master, someone who everyone felt had the highest chance in advancing to become an imperial operator. He had a nickname too. He was a member of the South Stars.

Unfortunately, Yang Mingzhi's mecha career ended after the annihilation of his mecha clan in a battle. He couldn't operate a mecha anymore. His superiors were worried and felt pity for him. They were afraid that being in the 1st Division would remind him of his wounds so they sent him to the 23rd Division to let him enjoy his retirement. He was a candidate for the position of regiment commander of the 250 Mecha Clan but he didn't want it. Hence, Zheng Qiyun took over.

Both of them were once famous mecha operators so whenever they met, they would have a short chat with each other. However, that was as far as their interactions went. Liu Fuquan didn't expect him to be curious about something. He always seemed nonchalant about everything.

Liu Fuquan raised his eyebrows. "You know what is happening. Why did you still asked me?" Although Yang Mingzhi was unable to operate a mecha, his physical skills were still present. He would have definitely sensed the strength of those recruits.

"I am just wondering why they were sent here." Yang Mingzhi frowned. 250 Mecha Clan was a hopeless place. Recruits shouldn't appear here.

"Who knows? There might be a motive behind it." Liu Fuquan shrugged. He was not interested in those recruits. He just wanted to make Zheng Qiyun give up on him.

"Besides their names and battle team, I can't find any other information about those recruits." Yang Mingzhi suddenly threw a bomb at him. Liu Fuquan raised his head in shock. Compared to him, Yang Mingzhi had a higher rank before he was sent here. Before he was sent here, he was going to become a Major General. However, he lost the opportunity.

In order to compensate him, the First Marshal gave Yang Mingzhi all the authorities and benefits of a Major General. If he couldn't get any information about those recruits, it meant that the person who set the requirements was either one of the three marshals, or one of the ten generals.

Yang Mingzhi ignored the surprise in Liu Fuquan's eyes. He continued, "This might be a chance. Don't miss it." He stood up and left as though he just came to greet him.

Liu Fuquan lowered his head to hide the emotions in his eyes. What did Yang Mingzhi mean by those words? Did he see through his disguise and decided to help him? Were those recruits really his chance?

Liu Fuquan smiled bitterly. His enemies were too strong. If he showed any signs of weakness, he would die a terrible death. No matter how powerful the backgrounds of these recruits were, how could they be compared to that person. He should not implicate them. Liu Fuquan's eyes dimmed again. He resumed his usual appearance.

Loud footsteps sounded outside the canteen. Everyone looked towards the door simultaneously. There were no big groups in the 250 Mecha Clan so everyone got curious.

A huge bunch of people entered the canteen. They were young and vibrant. The old soldiers that had given up on life felt calmer when they saw the recruits.

Chapter 613 - Means of Attack!

The two people who drew the most attention were the two girls who had totally different styles but were tacitly standing beside each other. They brightened up the entire cafeteria.

One of the beautiful girls saw that everyone was staring at them, instantly blushed and put her head down. The other physically attractive girl used her huge eyes to ruthlessly glare at everyone. She huffed coldly then pulled the shy girl to her side to block her from their sight.

Fu Qiangwei and Yan Mingjun's group of six wanted to take the new recruits down a notch. The moment Ling Lan walked in, these guys had found the target they wanted to make a move on.

The six of them suddenly jumped up from their seats and pounced towards their targets.

Four of the six pounced towards Ling Lan, Qi Long, Li Lanfeng and Li Yingjie, because in their eyes, these four people were the only Qi-Jin experts within this group of new recruits. The other two people were responsible for intercepting any other recruits from lending a helping hand while Yan Mingjun leaped beside Han Xuya and Luo Chao…

"Bam, bam, bam, bam!" Four consecutive sounds of hits landing. Fu Qiangwei and the other three who were responsible for Ling Lan and her group of four was intercepted.

Right when Luo Lang and the others wanted to move forward, two people appeared in front of them and intercepted them with only a few moves.

Yan Mingjun stood behind Han Xuya and Luo Chao who were looking at today's menu. He lightly tapped them on their shoulders.

Han Xuya immediately turned her head and asked confusedly, "What?"

"Yeah, I hope you can cooperate with me so it doesn't make things difficult," Yan Mingjun gestured showing that he couldn't help the situation.

At that moment, Han Xuya had already seen what was happening behind them. Her expression instantly changed. Right when she was about to get angry, Luo Chao nervously pulled on Han Xuya's hand and said, "We'll definitely cooperate. Please don't worry."

"Luo Chao, what are you doing?" Han Xuya said angrily.

"Wow, this little sister knows what's up," Yan Mingjun smiled coldly. His smile made Han Xuya feel like she wasn't looking at a person but a cold venomous snake. Right when she wanted to get angry, Luo Chao pulled on her hand once again. Then she swallowed the anger and frustration that had formed inside of her.

It was clear that Han Xuya and Luo Chao were used as hostages. This scene made the others in Lingtian not dare to make any sudden moves. They could only watch at Yan Mingjun's group in shock.

Seeing this, Liu Fuquan sipped his bottle and said softly, "As expected of newbies, still too soft. They actually weren't even on guard. They wouldn't be able to live on the battlefield if they are like this."

He saw that not too far from him, Yang Mingzhi was calmly eating his food and wasn't distracted by what was happening. Liu Fuquan couldn't help but lift up his bottle and shake it towards Yang Mingzhi's direction.

"Those are the new recruits you've set your eyes on? Their situation isn't looking good."

Yang Mingzhi understood what Liu Fuquan wanted to tell him. He lifted up his chopsticks and pointed slightly towards Liu Fuquan to signal Liu Fuquan that he should wait patiently.

Seeing this, Liu Fuquan shook his head and thought that waiting would be a waste of time. Yang Mingjun already had hostages. Could the newbies really turn the tide? However, he still took Yang Mingzhi's signal and continued to watch. Perhaps, in the deep recess of his mind, he also wanted to see the moment the newbies turn the tide.

Ling Lan didn't look at her opponent and instead looked towards Yan Mingjun. She sneered, "What do you think you're doing and getting that close to my members?"

Yan Mingjun grinned maliciously "You don't see it? Such a beautiful thing, would be a shame if it was broken." He took out his hand and cut the air around Han Xuya and Luo Chao's throats.

"You're not afraid to go military court?" Ling Lan continued to ask coldly.

Yan Mingjun laughed, "We have been determined have mood swings and could lose control by countless military doctors. So you guys have to listen to us, otherwise being easily provoked, I will really lose control. Then at that moment, you guys would lose two beautiful team members." He caressed Han Xuya and Luo Chao's face. He said with love and affection, "Then that would be too unfortunate."

Hearing this, Ling Lan nodded and turned towards Li Shiyu, "Shiyu, we can use the thing you invented."

Li Shiyu smiled, "That's my pleasure."

Ling Lan's odd response stunned Yan Mingjun. This time, Ling Lan looked towards Yan Mingjun once again and calmly said, "Since you're sick, you should take some medicine!"

Right after Ling Lan said 'medicine', countless flashes of light flew out from all the members of Lingtian. Very quickly, the five people standing in front of them instantly turned into porcupines and fell to the ground.

Yan Mingjun held his neck with an expression of disbelief on his face.

Han Xuya smiled and turned around. She clapped her hands, "Fall, fall!"

As she said these words, Yan Mingjun finally fell down. The hand he had on his neck also fell towards the ground. At that moment, everyone saw that there was actually a silver needle reflecting off from his neck.

It turns out Yan Mingjun was on guard against Qi Long, Ling Lan and others. He didn't think to pay any attention to the two girls standing behind him. In his eyes, Luo Chao was afraid, shy and was absolutely harmless. Han Xuya was impulsive and blind-sighted and also acted like someone who didn't think first before acting. There was basically no way for them to resist. It was this line of thought that made him get hit by Han Xuya's silver needle (miniature syringe).

Seeing this, Liu Fuquan was stunned. He didn't think that the nervousness of the two girls was actually feigned. Compared to others, who would assume that Han Xuya was the one who make a move, Liu Fuquan saw clearly that Yan Mingjun wasn't just hit by one silver needle. He also had a needle in his chest. This needle was actually tossed out by the terrified and harmless little girl.

He looked at Yang Mingzhi subconsciously. He saw that Yang Mingzhi was also stunned. It seemed that the performances of these two girls were also beyond his expectations. That was because in their eyes, female soldiers were either medical or logistics soldiers. The ones who were low in strength.

After taking down that group of six, Ling Lan and the others continued to choose their meals calmly. The unexpected counterattack by those new recruits made the other mecha operators understood that these newbies meant business. Some of them had the same thought as Yan Mingjun but then instantly changed their minds and decided to watch them for a longer amount of time.

At that moment, the team that was on duty was late to respond. They were greatly surprised after seeing the six laying on the floor. They thought that this time the new recruits would be the ones who were wounded and at a disadvantage. The team on duty didn't think that it was actually Yan Mingjun's six man group from the 250 Mecha Clan who were wounded and hurt.

The team on duty walked in and saw that the six of them had silver needles all over their bodies. After examining closely, they figured out that it was a strong tranquillizer and understood how the six of them were defeated. The team on duty also began to admire the new recruits for being able to invent such new and advanced weaponry.

Since the new recruits weren't hurt and didn't create any bloody accidents, the team on duty didn't ask the new recruits any questions. They then sent the six who were on the ground to the first aid department for them to return back to consciousness.

After the Regiment Commander found out, he was also surprised by the new recruits' invention. However, this also proved that in this group of new recruits, there weren't many strong individuals. Thus, they needed to resort to using underhanded tactics. Unfortunately, they had already exposed this tactic. It would be impossible for them to use it next time if they use the same tactic to go against their opponent.

The Regiment Commander's restless feeling calmed down a bit. However, before knowing the real reason those new recruits came to the 250 Mecha Clan, the Regiment Commander will not be fully at ease.

However, what happened afterwards, surprised the entire 250 Mecha Clan. Yan Mingjun and his group of six, who were hit with a strong tranquillizer, did not wake up even though the anaesthetic was removed.

They were still unconscious and because of the treatment pods, they were not under any life threatening situation. After sending them to the headquarters' hospital, they still could not determine a way to solve the issue after a series of tests and studies.

In order to get past this difficulty, the headquarters' hospital sent many physicians to 250 Mecha Clan to find Lingtian Battle Team to acquire the tranquillizing agent to study. After they found out that this was made by Li Shiyu, they immediately stopped all research and returned back to the headquarters as soon as possible. Before leaving, those physicians didn't forget to tell the Regiment Commander of 250 that in order to solve the problem, he could only go to Li Shiyu.

The Regiment Commander at that moment finally knew that one member of Lingtian Battle Team was actually a physician registered in the headquarters' hospital. After being surprised by this fact, the Regiment Commander used his connections to get some information about this physician and finally found out the truth.

It turns out, the headquarters could no longer tolerate 250 Mecha Clan and didn't want them to become a disgrace of the 23rd Division. The headquarters also didn't want to publicly announce that the 23rd Division had a useless mecha clan. Thus, they quietly dispatched an expert military doctor to join the battle team of the new recruits into 250 Mecha Clan to make him treat the mecha operators with psychological problems within the clan.

The other new recruits were only used to safeguard the military doctor. This would then explain why the new recruit was able to successfully activate his battle team. It was the result of the headquarters opening a backdoor for him.

The Regiment Commander believed that he found out the truth was and completely let his guard down against those new recruits and cooperated with the headquarters' arrangements. First, he handed Yan Mingjun and the other five to Li Shiyu. Thus, Yan Mingjun and the other five were going to be living in torment. Especially Yan Mingjun, who would feel what real torture felt like. Compared to the torment he would feel, what he had done to those new recruits was not even worth mentioning.

After only around a month or so, Ling Lan had already grasped the information of all 250 mecha operators from 250 Mecha Clan with the Regiment Commander's intentional and unintentional cooperation.

"Captain, this is the list of individuals needing treatment provided by the Regiment Commander," Li Shiyu handed a piece of paper to Ling Lan.

In a month's time, with Li Shiyu's treatment, Yan Mingjun and the other five changed completely. If they were told to torment others, they would be afraid to do so. Fu Qiangwei also changed his impulsiveness and aggressive personality. Even if someone was to mock him in front of him, Fu Qiangwei wouldn't lash out on them.

Everyone was stunned by Li Shiyu's treatment results. Right when they wanted to see if they should also ask Li Shiyu to treat them, one mecha operator unintentionally saw Fu Qiangwei speak to a stray cat using a soft and slow voice. This scene made the operator felt terrified.

What terrifying means would make such a person's personality change into a completely different one. Additionally, everytime these other mecha operators passed by Lingtian's accommodation area, they could hear Fu Qiangwei and Yan Mingjun's cries of agony during their treatment… Very quickly, the expression of everyone in 250 Mecha Clan would change when they spoke of doctor related topics.

"I didn't think that he would actually give us a list of people by his own accord," Ling Lan said with surprise as she raised her eyebrows. This Regiment Commander also had responsibility to take for making the entire clan terrified of Li Shiyu's means of treatment. She originally thought that this Regiment Commander was making it hard for them on purpose. Now it seemed that this Regiment Commander had other plans in mind.